Broome

If you have been on a camping road trip circumnavigating Australia for two months already, coming into Broome is like seeing a mirage in the desert. This funky tourist town whispers promises of day spa pampering, great shopping at artisan markets and a tasty mix of multicultural food.

The infamous Cable Beach stretches out for infinity and as the tide comes in and the sun goes down the silhouette of camel trains on the horizon makes postcard-perfect pictures. From a distance it is easy to mistake the camels for tall, tanned lifesavers…The beach is strewn with millions of tiny sand balls and if you wait quietly and patiently you will be rewarded with catching a glimpse of their lightning quick crafters emerging from their crab holes. Cable Beach is also a great place to enjoy the sun with no clothes on but make sure that the awning is pegged into the ground first as one gust of wind and you don’t want to be caught in your birthday suit like a crab on the side of the car fixing it!

Witnessing the Stairways to the Moon phenomenon from Town Beach is another tourist draw card. From March to October the reflections of the rising full moon across the mudflats at low tide creates the optical illusion of a staircase reaching the moon.

But Broome is not just a hippy town filled with local designers, it is also internationally significant habitat for migratory waterbirds. Roebuck Bay, with its extensive tidal mudflats, are very important foraging grounds for migratory waterbirds and are protected under the JAMBA and CAMBA agreements. The huge, twice daily tides here intermittently drown the mangroves making a contrasting sea of red and turquoise water beneath sunny blue skies.

Low tide is also a good time to visit Gantheaume Point to witness the dinosaur footprints stamped on rocky beach cliffs. Another place worth visiting is James Price Point; just north of Broome the point is known for its deep, red sand dunes bleeding into the surf and is a favourite camping spot for some, but only the daring should visit after rains as the track turns into a complete quagmire!